It's My Fault
by DinosaurStickers
Summary: Carson blames herself for her mothers death. After all, she's the one who left the door to the house unlocked. But that was years ago. Right now she's trying to survive the apocalypse. It's now in the midst of pain, death, and suffering that she finally finds salvation. Daryl Dixon x OC.
1. The Quarry Camp

Carson adored clothing. The vibrant colours, the various materials, and especially the unique patterns. Carson's personal favourite was floral, in any colour scheme. She loved flowers because her mother loved flowers. She's always loved the idea that she was wearing a garden. Carson has thought that since she was seven. Carson always wore something colourful and sweet, her friend Alison always said Carsons clothes matched Carsons personality. Sweet, caring, and gentle. But now she was sweating in her favourite yellow dress as she hurriedly packed some clothes into her old, 50's style, brown suitcase.

Carson already had her old backpack sitting by the door and she heard her roommate Alison running around her own room. Carson slammed the case shut quickly and didn't even react when it pinched her thumb. Something that would've have a greater effect on her two months ago. She was weak, and now, she was too scared to be weak. _Be strong_, she thought as a constant reminder to herself. The adrenaline was coursing through her veins as she tried to leave the building located on the fringe of Atlanta, Georgia. Carson has never wanted to leave her shared condominium faster.

"Alison!" Carson yelled loudly as she clomped down the stairs in her squeaky clean, white, converse shoes. "Are you ready?" Carson asked looking up the staircase to her friends room. "Alison, we have to meet T-Dog in ten minutes!"

Carson heard a loud crash and she reacted by running up the stairs with the lamp her mother picked out for her in her hands. It was the closest thing to her. Carson walked up to Alison's bed room door hesitantly and saw it slightly ajar. She opened the door to see no one in sight. The window was open and slightly blowing the curtains around as the wind gushed in. Carson ran to the window and slightly leaned out with her hands gripping the window pane to see Theo standing by the car looking at Alison's body with his favourite hat gripped in his hands. Alison had thrown herself from the window and Carson didn't know why. Not even an hour ago Alison just wanted to see her parents.

Carson looked around her friends room and saw her cell phone on the ground by Carson's feet. She leaned down and picked it up and looked at the text that was still open on the screen. It was from Alison's mom and it was very blunt. _Don't come here. Your father is one, I got bit._ Alison gave up so soon. Alison gave up before the fight even truly begun. The military bases were just crumbling throughout the city and the hospitals were overrun. Carson, Alison and Theodore were going to try and get to safety then to Alison's parents house. Alison's family was the only one still in the state. Carson's dad was in jail and her mom was dead. T-Dog's family lived three states over. Carson dropped the phone and stood up quickly taking off down the stairs with tears in her eyes this time.

Carson was startled by Theo standing by the door holding her bags. He nodded for her to follow him and she did willingly. Theo hit one of the dead with Carsons bag as it came out from her neighbours condo. Carson shrieked and followed quickly behind her friend of seven years. Carson had met Theodore when she started her job at the bar, Crab Sticks. Carson followed behind him as he rushed to the exit closest to his car.

"Listen, Carson. When we get out there," Theo started then threw Carson her backpack which she slung over one shoulder. "Just, uh, just get right into the car. Don't look at anything. Don't look at Alison."

Carson didn't answer because Theodore had pushed open the exit and the geeks heads raised at the sound. They all looked around until their dead eyes fell onto the bodies that still had a heart beat. Carson and Theo ran to the car and they both threw Carsons bags into the backseat. Carson took the brief moment they had to look at Alison. She saw the dead devouring her friend and she let out a tear before she screamed at a geek who threw itself onto the passenger side door. Theo quickly got the car started and onto the road. The geeks tried to follow but they were no match for a moving vehicle.

"Theo, I'm scared." Carson muttered pulling her feet onto the seat to hug her knees into her chest. Carson and Alison were the only two allowed to call T-Dog, Theo or Theodore.

"I'd be worried if you weren't, babydoll." T-Dog said as he drove towards the highway out of Atlanta.

Theo drove on the wrong side of the highway because there were no cars there at all. No one in their right mind would go into the city right now. There were a few scattered cars with the same idea as Theo but the rest were piled up on the way out of Atlanta. Carson had to tear her eyes away because the sight was hideous. There were people screaming but there was nothing that could be done about it now. Once they've been bit then their fight for survival is over. Carson flinched as cars honked, swerved, and crashed. People weren't seeming to realize that noise drew them in. Carson hit Theo in the arm when she saw someone running on the side of the road. T-Dog sighed but slowed beside them causing the cars around to honk loudly.

"Have you been bit?" Carson yelled and the runner slowed and shook his head no. "Get in then."

"Thanks, didn't think anyone cared about a stranger anymore." The young looking man said as he got into the backseat. He pushed Carsons bag over to make room for himself and Theo sped up again.

"I'm Carson, and this is Theodore. Feel free to call me Car and him T-Dog." Carson introduced while turned around in her seat to look over the headrest.

"Glenn." The stranger said taking his backpack off and throwing it on the floor by his feet.

Glenn ethnicity was clearly Korean. He was wearing some kind of baseball shirt that Carson couldn't pinpoint due to her ignorance of baseball. Glenn seemed nice enough to Carson and T-Dog didn't show any outward signs of hatred towards Glenn.

"Why were you running?" Carson asked and Glenn looked at her with raised eyebrows. "I mean, obviously to get away from Atlanta and the geeks, but why weren't you driving?"

"My car is stuck in the pile up." Glenn said pulling his seat belt across his body. "I wasn't about to wait around for traffic to clear up."

"Fair enough." T-Dog said jumping into the conversation. "Glenn, do you know anywhere that's safe?"

"No, but my neighbour said that their old friend is holding up by the quarry. He's a cop. It's no military camp but apparently he's trying." Glenn explained and T-Dog nodded into the rear view mirror. "Not really one for small talk are you?"

"Don't let his big black body fool you, he's a marshmallow." Carson laughed as she spoke and T-Dog and Glenn both chuckled.

"Are you two.." Glenn started but stopped and waited for them to finish his sentence.

"We're friends, and we worked together. He was head over heels for our friend Alison." Carson spoke with a smile until she thought about Alison. "She didn't, uh, she's no longer with us."

"Sorry," Glenn uttered awkwardly from the backseat and Carson could hear the seat squeak as he shuffled around behind her.

"Forget about it." T-Dog sighed and turned at Glenn's direction.

"Uhm, yeah. Right over there." Glenn muttered awkwardly pointing towards a ledge that had an RV parked sideways and Carson believed she saw a man standing on top of it.

"Did you put cans in the trunk?" Carson asked looking at T-Dog who nodded quickly and Carson half smiled hoping they would accept them.

"This is my uncles car and he was getting ready to go, uh, away from here." T-Dog explained and Glenn nodded while Carson patted Theodore's shoulder.

The rest of the drive was silent. Although the RV could be seen it was still along drive. There were dirt roads that went uphill which made T-Dog nervous in this old car. His nerves were practically visible to Carson, as she could read him like a book after all these years. Carson took the white scrunchie off of her wrist and put all of her brown hair in a ponytail. She was one of the last people who wore scrunchies, even before all of the dead woke up. Carson remembered when Alison told her that scrunchies were fashion suicide. This made Carson smile a little. She was sad that Alison was dead but she was almost relieved. She felt like a horrible person for even thinking that but now she only had one person to worry about. It was Alison's decision, Alison won't wake up. Carson felt horrible for thinking like that, guilt coursed through her body and she brought her knees up on the seat and squeezed them tightly. T-Dog sighed as he knew what she was doing.

"Are you okay?" Glenn asked over the seat looking at the fragile girl.

"She's feeling guilty. It'll pass, it's like a momentary shut down." T-Dog explained and Carson put her legs back on the floor and let out a deep breath.

"I'm fine. Sorry if I worried you, Glenn." Carson apologized and Glenn laughed it off but his faced flashed with relief. He thought he'd done something.

When they got up to the edge a tough lookin guy in a cop's uniform came up to the car. He asked the trio in the car to get out with hands in the air. They all obliged. Carson didn't recognize the uniform from Atlanta and she thought he had to be from out of the city. Carson knew the police forces from working in a bar for seen years. She's dealt with them more than her fair share. Carson looked around and only saw a few people. There was an older looking man, two blond girls, a Latino family of four, a woman hugging a young boy in front of her, a very thin black lady, a chubby man, a very short haired woman with a little girl holding her hand, and an older looking mechanic. The last two people Carson noticed were two obvious rednecks, the only two not paying attention to the trio.

"What do you want?" The cop asked with his hand on his left hip making Carson frightened.

"A safe place, a _safer_ place." T-Dog said and the cop lowered his hand to rest by his side.

"What can you provide?" A cop asked looking them all over. "I can repair clothes, tears, rips, anything. And I'm fast and quiet. I know my way around a health pack." Carson explained meekly still intimated by the muscular man scrutinizing her every word. "I can just do anything you want me to, I won't complain."

"I have something I want you to do!" The older redneck yelled and grinned at Carson making her eyes widen.

"Shut up, Dixon!" The cop yelled over his shoulder and turned to the girl with softer eyes than he had before. "I'm sorry about him, he's dumber than a stack of bricks."

"I'm strong, can hold up a fight." T-Dog said in a manly tone changing the subject much to Carson's contentment. "Ain't too afraid of the geeks." The cop just nodded at him. T-Dog's muscles were clear as the nose on anyone's face.

"I know Atlanta like a back of my hand and I'm quick. I can hold up my pace for a while too." Glenn said and the cop nodded and turned to look around the group who all seemed to approve of the trio, except the older redneck who rolled his eyes. The other one wasn't even paying attention, he was cleaning a bow.

"I can't see any reason you wouldn't be welcome here." The cop said and gave then a small smile which was gone seconds after it graced his features.

"I'm glad you said so," Carson smiled and held out her hand for T-Dog to give her the car keys, which he did. "Come here."

Carson led the cop to the trunk and opened it and he raised his eyebrows and all the food T-Dog's uncle had stashed in there. There were over fifty cans of various vegetables and even some canned ham. The cop smiled for longer this time and walked to the front of the car and waved over the woman hugging the little boy. She whispered something to the boy and walked over to them.

"I'm Shane. Lori," Shane nodded and she waited for him to speak. "Why don't you take..," He looked to Carson.

"Carson." She said quickly.

"Why don't you take Carson around and introduce her to everyone, I want to talk to the other two." Shane asked and Lori nodded ushering the girl with her.

"Well, I'm Lori. That's my son Carl, and his friend Sophia." Lori said walking a few steps in front of Carson and pointed at the boy she was hugging earlier and the girl holding the short haired woman's hair. "Carol and Ed are right there, those are Sohia's parents." Lori pointed at the appropriate people. Carol smiled politely and Ed just stared blankly at Carson "That's Morales, and his wife Miranda. Their kids are Eliza and Louis." Lori smiled and waved at the Latino family. Every member smiled and waved at Carson who mirrored their actions. "Those two rednecks are Daryl and Merle Dixon. The owner of the RV is Dale, one of the nicest men I ever met." Dale smiled from his spot on top of the RV but turned and went back to keeping watch. "Those two girls are Andrea and Amy, they're sisters. The mechanic is Jim." The girls waved and Jim gave her a half smile and nodded his head. "This is Jacqui." Lori said putting her hands on the black lady's shoulder and Jacqui smiled That's just about it." Lori smiled and put her hands on her hips and everyone started to return to their previous tasks. "Let's get right into it, would you mind giving Amy and Andrea a hand collecting some sticks and wood for the fire, until Shane has something else for you to do."

Carson nodded and thanked Lori, who smiled and then went off to help the kids with some math. Carson walked over to the girls who smiled while leading the newcomer to the forest.

"We never go to far in." Amy said reassuringly as Carson looked nervous.

"So, what's your name?" Andrea asked picking up a handful of twigs.

"Carson." She replied smiling politely and doing the same.

"Thank you, I got it for my birthday." Carson replied seriously making Andrea and Amy laugh.

Carson found it hard to pay attention to the two sisters as she had been through enough for one day. The sun was starting to set and as Carson made her way to the middle of the camp she saw the sky was splashed with beautiful colours. As she was staring at the sky the little girl, Sophia wandered over to her and looked at the sky as well.

"Why are you staring it it?" Sophia asked trying to look for a bird or a helicopter or anything that flies but only saw the sky.

"At what?" Carson asked looking down at the little girl and putting the sticks on the ground where Amy and Andrea did while Sophia followed her.

"The sky." Sophia clarified looking at Carson with curious eyes that made Carson smile.

"It's comforting." Carson said softly sitting on a log near a small pile of ash that Carson assumed was the spot they put the fires.

"How?" Sophia asked sitting beside her on the log.

"Even with bad things happening, the sky is still beautiful." Carson explained nudging the little girl with her elbow jokingly.

"Yeah, it's pretty. I like the orange." Sophia said looking up at the sky again.

"Me too." Carson said following Sophia's lead to look at the sky. They both quietly looked at the sky until Sophia's mother called her over. Sophia got halfway there before she turned and waved to Carson. She then kept running and her mom gave her a hug and spoke to her in hushed tones.

Carson stayed in her spot silently for an hour and everyone around left her be. Soon it was dark and everyone was heading off to bed. Dale came up to Carson holding a bag of some kind in his hand. She stood but stayed still. It would have been embarrassing if he wasn't actually walking to her.

"This is my last tent." Dale said and handed her the bag. "You can't have it, but you can use it." Dale smiled and let her take it. "Do you want my help setting it up?"

"No thank you, I'll just get T-Dog to do it." Carson smiled and Dale chuckled before going into the RV. Shane was standing up top and Carson quietly asked him where T-Dog was but not loud enough to wake anyone or attract geeks.

"He's already asleep. I gave him a tent that fits two. He's going to bunk with Glenn for now." Shane explained and looked at the tent in her hands. "You alright on your own?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I just need his help setting it up. I've never set one up." Carson said and she looked over at the RV wishing she hadn't turned down Dale's offer. "Goodnight, Shane."

"Just wait a second. I'm not about to send you off to try and read the instructions. I'm a gentleman. You come up here and keep watch. If you see _anything_ you holler. I'll set up your tent beside Glenn's." Shane said climbing down. "Go on up."

Carson followed his order and climbed up the short ladder to the roof of the RV. She saw a cozy looking set up. It looked like something a bird watcher would have set up. There was a lawn chair and a small little umbrella to protect you from the sun and rain. Carson saw binoculars set on the arm rest of the chair. She grabbed them and looked through the lens'. She scanned the edges of the small cliff that led to the quarry. She focused mostly on the road leading to their camp. She would also looked at the edges of the forest and squinted to see if anything would come out of it. She was so focused that she didn't see Shane pop up from the back of the RV.

"Yours is the green one beside the car you came in." Shane said casually and Carson jumped shocked and almost fell off the side of the RV. She stabilized herself while glaring at Shane who couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm so sorry." Shane said between chuckles. "I thought you saw me." Shane reached forward towards Carson and she handed Shane the binoculars.

"Goodnight, Shane. Thanks for letting us stay."

"We have to come together. Now more then ever. Before people g insane." Shane smiled as a goodnight and Carson walked over to the tent. She unzipped the door and stepped inside. She stayed in her dress even though Shane had gone to lengths of bringing in her bags and setting up a sleeping bag and pillow. Carson made a mental note to thank him again in the morning. Carson didn't sleep a wink that night. She felt two things; guilt and fear. She was too afraid to sleep on her own and she felt guilt for lying to Shane about it. When Carson started to hear the background noise of everyone else waking up she felt stupid. Shane was on watch and T-Dog had been two feet away all night. She was a twenty seven year old girl, and she was way too scared to sleep alone.

Carson changed into pink pants and a white tank top. She put on her converse which had remained clean and put on her sunglasses. She looked threw her bag and saw everything she grabbed out of the medicine cabinet in her condo. Typical things; ibuprofen, tums, and some band aids. She had also grabbed trivial things like deodorant, body spray, lotion. She also grabbed Alison's tampons, even if she didn't need them someone else might. She thought back to her college years when she thought getting a permanent birth control was a good idea. After college she spent years regretting it, as there was no way to undo it. Now, she's thankful she did it.

Carson decided to keep them a secret for now. If someone needed them she would gladly share but she didn't need someone to steal them and keep them to themselves. She didn't know these people yet. She didn't trust these people, _yet_. Carson zipped her bag back up and unzipped her tent to step out. She left it unzipped to let fresh air in but when she thought of the bugs she quickly ran up and zipped it up. She was new to this, she was a city girl not a camper. Carson tried to ignore the fact that the edges of her tattoo could be seen on her left shoulder but the tank top covered enough for it to be unreadable. That tattoo was the last thing she wanted to share. But she needed it. She needed to always remind herself that it's her fault.

She walked over to Shane and asked what she could do to help today. He said to just help Jacqui watch the kids until he thought of a chore for her to do. Glenn was helping Dale fix the RV. He was mainly just passing Dale the tools he needed. T-Dog, however, was helping Andrea set up cans on strings between trees to alert someone if a geek comes near. Carson thought of this as a very strategically placed camp. She walked over to the kids and Jacqui and told that she would help watch the kids.

Carson sat down beside Carl and listened to him talk to Louis about his impressive hot wheels collection. Jacqui was jokingly and enthusiastically narrating as Sophia and Eliza played tic-tac-toe in the dirt. Carl looked at Carson and squinted his eyes.

"You worked in a library." Carl declared with a look of satisfaction on his face. "I just know it."

"I didn't actually." Carson said and Louis piped in.

"A book store?" Louis asked tilting his head.

"That's like the same thing." Carl said crossing his arms.

"No," Louis fought putting his hands on his hips. "One of them you borrow the book , and one of them you buy the book."

"Either way you read a book." Carl said keeping his arms crossed tightly in front of him.

"I was actually a server, like a waitress." Carson said and both the boys looked defeated.

"I wouldn't have guessed that." Louis said shrugging and changing the conversation to his favourite show. Carson thought she heard him call it G.I Joe something or other.

Carson smiled at the sight. All Carson could do was hope that the childrens innocent remained unharmed. But that would be damn near impossible unless the government fixed this, and fast.


	2. Sleepwalking

When nighttime rolled around Carson was absolutely spent. She was practically running on fumes at this point. She hadn't slept the night before and Shane had given her plenty of chores. She wasn't upset about it, just tired. Shane told her that she would just be doing whatever needed to be done that was within her physical limits. She helped clean, cook, and various other tasks. Carson stumbled into the tent as if she were drunk. She ripped her pants down her legs and pulled herself into the sleeping bag. As soon as she did she was asleep and dreaming about random things.

* * *

Daryl started to walk back to the camp from going to the bathroom in the fringe of the forest. He thought he saw a walker and put his hand on his knife when he realized it was the new addition to the group, Carson. He had no idea why she was walking into the forest unarmed in the middle of night, and to make matters worse she was in her underwear. Was she trying to get herself killed? Or was she just stupid? Daryl sighed and walked deeper into the woods after her. He called her name a few times but she didn't answer him. He stopped for a minute and took in her almost naked body. She was skinny, and he would admit that he found her quite attractive. He didn't realize how much further in she was going because he was staring at her bum. He felt like his brother, little bit of a pervert. He looked at the ground and cussed before running and catching up to Carson.

"What are yah doin? Tryin to git yerself killed?" Daryl asked as he grabbed onto her arm to at least get an explanation to tell the others before she did whatever she was doing.

Carson looked dead in the eyes and he wondered for a moment if she had been bitten. He realized she hadn't when she just stared at him and didn't attack him. No, her eyes were way to pretty to be dead. That thought shot through Daryl's head. Instead she slowly lifted her hand to his face and ran the tips of her fingers from the top his cheek bone, to the corner of jaw by his ear, and then to his chin. She then dropped her hand and he stared back with no idea what to do.

"Are you tryin' to git yerself killed?" Daryl repeated as she continued to stare at him blankly, blinking slowly. "Do it tomorrow, not while I'm watchin, they'll blame me or somethin." Daryl tried to gently tug her towards the camp. "They've been just lookin for a reason to kick me and Merle out." Daryl said while she stayed completely still. "C'mon!" Daryl said louder and tugged her a little more rough.

Daryl then got attacked. Carson began to hit and slap him which he didn't retaliate but he raised his hands and ducked to try and save himself from some impact. When she stopped hitting she turned on her heels and Daryl saw she was also not wearing shoes. He wanted to leave, she attacked him so she was on her own. But he couldn't do it. She was obviously crazy. He watched her walk to a tree and start hitting her head on it slowly while her arms just dangled beside her. He couldn't do it. He couldn't turn around and walk away no matter how badly he wanted to. If he even wanted to. He couldn't help but think she would either die, or maybe some bad men would even find her and had there way with her. He shuddered at the thought and decided it best to trying and get her back.

"Wait," Daryl said to no one and listened in close to her. She snored. "Are you freaking kidding me? Yer asleep?" Daryl said again to no one and threw his hands in the air just to let them drop. Now he really couldn't leave.

Daryl walked over to her and decided he would try and pick her up. He would have to be very gentle so she wouldn't attack him again. Daryl walked over and stared at her with his arms raised towards her but he dropped them and ran one through is hair in frustration. He wanted to go get T-Dog or Glenn, they were friends right? They would know what to do. But he didn't know what tent they were in and he couldn't leave her here alone. Daryl sighed and looked up at the sky peeking between the trees. He looked back at Carson and saw her forehead now had a bleeding cut on it. He had to act right now. He put one arm along the back of her kneecaps and one on her mid back. He pushed on her kneecaps so she collapsed into his arms while he caught her with the other one. She was resting there calmly and wasn't attacking him so he scooped her up more. When he was fully standing she was calm and peacefully sleeping.

Daryl began walking back to camp and he looked down at her. He found her quite beautiful but out of his league so he would keep his opinion to himself as he always did about women. Daryl walked slowly for fear of startling her but then two thoughts crossed his mind. How was he going to explain this to whoever was on watch? And what if she wakes up right now? He began to walk slower. It would decrease the chance of her waking up and giving him time to think. When he got the the camp he just decided to tell the truth. Just his luck, it was Dale on watch, he would most likely believe Daryl. Dale stood immediately and looked at Daryl waiting for an explanation.

"She's a sleep walker." Daryl said and Dale cringed at his choice of words.

"I didn't even see her leave her tent, she's quiet." Dale said and pointed out her tent to Daryl who put her in it and zipped it up. "I'll watch out for her now."

"Like you did before?" Daryl sneered rudely and sat outside of Carsons tent. "Suns comin up soon anyway." Daryl pull his knees closer together and wrapped his arms around them. "No point goin back to sleep."

"Alrighty, if you say so." Dale said turning back to the trees.

* * *

Carson woke up in the morning with a splitting headache. She reached her hand up her head and felt something there. She scratched it and realized it was dried blood. Where had that come from? She stood up and pulled on the same pants and shoes as yesterday and walked out after dry swallowing an advil. She walked out and tripped falling to the ground quickly. She looked behind her and saw she just startled Daryl Dixon out of his sleep. She looked at him confused but he just stood up and left quickly to his own tent. Carson pulled herself off the round and dusted off her arms and hands. Carson saw everyone doing their own thing and saw Jacqui, Andrea, and Carol doing laundry. She made her way down to them and offered her help. They all smiled and welcomed her to help Andrea try and beat out stains since that was the hardest job.

"Come here first." Carol said and Carson obeyed. Carol got her hand wet and scrubbed the blood off of Carsons forehead.

"Thank you." Carson said with a smile and she sat beside Andrea. Carol smiled and nodded in reply.

"How'd you cut there? You didn't have that yesterday." Andrea asked handing Carson a balled up brown cut off shirt that she began to scrub with her hands.

"I woke up with it." Carson explained shrugging.

"That's weird, maybe you scratched it." Jacqui offered ringing out a pair of pants and hanging it over the make shift clothes line.

"Maybe." Carson said scratching at a dark stain with the nail on her thumb.

Jacqui and Carol began talking about Sophia which made the quiet Carol light up and really begin to chatter. Andrea looked at Carson and smiled.

"So, tell me. Did you have a boyfriend before this?" Andrea asked and Jacqui swatter her with a a wet shirt.

"Jacqui, it's okay. I've actually never had a real boyfriend." Carson said shrugging and finally getting most of the stain off of the shirt.

"Really? So, you're a virgin?" Andrea asked and Jacqui looked ready to smack Andrea again. The face she made evoked a laugh from Carson.

"I never said that." Carson said between laughs and the other three girls laughed too.

"I actually used to be kind of a promiscuous girl, in college. Now, I'm glad I was." Carson sighed and picked up a new article of clothing from the blue basket.

"Why?" Carol asked. She didn't sound rude but just curious.

"I got this this surgery. It prevented me from ever getting pregnant. It was just supposed to slow down my period but it ended up stopping it all together. So, now I don't have to deal with that visitor once a month. I used to regret not being able to have a family." Carson explained. "But now a family is just a means to heartbreak." Carol and Andrea stared at her blankly and Jacqui seemed to agree. "But, you need family to get through this as well."

"You're right. All I do is worry about Sophia." Carol agreed ringing out a shirt as much as she could.

"There's no winning right now." Andrea said rolling a shirt between her knuckles roughly.

"New topic. Carson, you said you were a server, where did you work?" Jacqui asked trying to find out about Carsons past as a way to get to know her.

"Oh, I actually was a bartender. I didn't think I should be talking about shots with tots so I bent the truth. I worked at Crab Sticks, lame name but it pays the bills." Carson said and then frowned a little. "Paid."

"I've been there," Jacqui said smiling. "I went there for a girls night. Jeez, it was months ago." Jacqui laughed slightly and looked at Carson. "We felt so old and out of place. We left by ten to go get some late night pancakes."

Everybody laughed and worked in silence for a few moments. Then Jacqui and Carol began to talk amongst themselves while Carson and Andrea dove into a conversation about their college years. Andrea was telling Carson a funny now but embarrassing then story.

"So, that's how I got locked in a hall naked with only whip cream covering my –" Andrea stopped talk when she saw Shane laughing hysterically behind Carson. Carson turned and saw Shane and made a tight line with her mouth and turned back to Andrea who was beat red.

Andrea put a single finger to her mouth and then moved the same finger across her throat. _Tell or I kill you_ was written all over Andrea's face. Shane put up his hands in surrender and walked back up to the camp laughing.

"Come on up to camp. We need to have a chat." Shane shouted over his shoulder and the girls began to pack up.

"Tell a nice girl I just met? No problem. Tell a guy? Never." Andrea mumbled and Carson laughed so Andrea jokingly pushed her.

"Andrea!" Carson laughed grabbing the basket that had the only dry and still dirty clothes in it.

They walked back up to camp leaving the clothes behind to dry. When they got up there Andrea took the basket from Carson and brought it back to the RV. Everyone was gathered in the front of the RV and Shane was leaning against it.

"We should go for a supply run." Shane suggested and everyone started talking at once. Everyone quieted down at the same time and then Lori spoke up.

"We just got here, let's wait a week or two." Lori said and nobody spoke. "The military camps were _just_ over run. There's no way." Lori complained and Shane smiled a little.

"I wasn't thinking anywhere near those. Just up the road aways there's a gas station. I want to hit it before anyone else does." Shane explained and Lori nodded and stepped back. "Volunteers?"

"I'll go, I haven't since I got here." Amy said and Andrea's head snapped towards her. "Just to the gas station, not the city. It won't be bad." Andrea nodded and looked at Shane. "You stay, Andrea. You went on the last one." Amy said and Andrea reluctantly nodded.

"I'll go." Carson offered and T-Dog narrowed his eyes. "I want to help."

"I'm going, RV needs parts." Jim said and Shane nodded.

"All right ladies, Jim. I'll drive us there. I know where it is." Shane said and looked at the sky. "Plenty of time today. Get what you need and we'll go."

"Be careful babydoll." T-Dog said to Carson as soon as the crowd dispersed.

"I will Theo." Carson said holding out her pinky which made T-Dog laugh but wrap his pinky around hers.

"Baseball bats in the car, under the backseat." T-Dog said before going to give Dale a break from keeping watch.

Carson went to her tent and saw that Shane was leaning on the side of his Jeep waiting patiently. Carson emptied her backpack of clothes leaving just the medical stuff in it. She felt smart to have brought her whole medicine cabinet with her and felt as she could be the medic. She walked past Shane and to T-Dogs car and grabbed the baseball bat which was just where he said and she walked back to him. Jim was there too now, they were just waiting for Amy. Shane heard Carsons backpack rattling and asked what was in it.

"Everything medical I had at home. I studied to be a nurse but I never got a job as one." Carson explained and Shane smirked.

"A nurse, we don't have one of those." Shane said nodding.

"I never technically became a nurse. I became a bartender. Tips are better." Carson joked making both Shane and Jim laugh.

"Ready?" Amy asked walking up to the trio. They nodded and got into Shane vehicle.

They drove along peacefully. Amy and Carson talked about their favourite movies while Jim and Shane talked about what parts Dale needed. While Amy brought up _Mamma Mia_ they arrived at the gas station. They all had jobs. Shane would clear the perimeter and then fill all the gas cans he brought. Jim would look for his parts and the girls would ransack the inside.

"Don't go in yet, I'll check it out." Shane said going ahead of Carson.

"No, it's okay. I got it." Carson answered and Shane stopped and nodded. Amy followed Carsons lead.

Carson held her bat with a firm grip as she walked up the the store. She pushed the already open door with her foot and saw that there was a walker just waddling around inside. Amy drew a sharp breath as the walker began to sniff the air. Carson brought the bat behind her head and swung it hitting the back of the zombies neck. This pushed it forward enough for it to break through the glass of the window. She heard someone shout from outside in shock and she yelled back a sorry before raising the bat above her head to slam it down on the geeks back. This made the geeks already very fragile neck cut on the glass. The geeks body fell inside the store and the head rolled outside somewhere.

"Jesus." Amy muttered looking at Carson impressed.

"I worked late and I walked home. You gotta know how to defend yourself." Carson explained and opened her backpack to fill it with stuff.

She grabbed a couple packs of smokes and when Amy asked about it Carson said that someone would probably appreciate it. She filled it with candy bars and other random snacks she found around the station. Amy grabbed all the water bottles they had and as many other drinks as she could carry. Carson went behind the counter to look for anything else useful. She found a handgun and a box full of bullets. She grabbed them thinking Shane would know just exactly what kind of gun it was. Carson saw a key and grabbed it and opened the door to the backroom. In there she found three medical packs. There was another box of ammo, an epi pen, a flashlight and a bunch of batteries. She grabbed all of them. Her backpack was heavy and as she left she grabbed as many pack of um as she could carry.

Amy left at the same time and Jim was already sitting shotgun of the Jeep while Shane leaned against it.

"Anything good?" Shane asked pushing off the Jeep.

"Some batteries, this and that, lots of water and I found a gun with a box and a half of ammo." Carson said holding out the gun. "Take it."

"You keep it. Finders keepers. You just give me the half box of ammo. I have another gun that could use it."

"You can have the full box." Carson said handing it to him. He took it and smiled walking around to the drivers side.

They drove in silence this time just ready to get back to camp. When they got back everyone greeted them. But all Carson could see was the group counting how many people returned.


End file.
